Pollutionwatch: time to dispel the myth of the inconvenient youth

Study debunks idea that parents find children's concern about climate change irritatingIn 2007, an article in the Wall Street Journal appeared with the headline "Inconvenient youth". A pun on Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth, it described parents being badgered by their children to drive less or install low energy lighting to help climate change. It even included tips and strategies for fed-up parents to deflect these suggestions. A new study challenges this narrative. In 2015, a poster competition for Utah schools was launched to encourage teens to consider the air pollution implications of their driving privilege and to learn strategies to preserve air quality. Although the competition was directed at the teenagers, it soon became clear that they were talking to their parents and encouraging them to change behaviour too. Continue reading...